Wednesday, May 27, 2015

I am proud to announce that Jessica Schmeidler of Golden Wheat Literary (Twitter: @GoldenWheatLit) will represent me and my books as I strive to achieve the next level in my literary career. Jessica, previously the Acquisitions Editor at Anaiah Press and currently a freelance editor and ghostwriter, originally launched the agency to help connect Christian writers with the vast market of both Christian and secular publishers; however, she has expanded into representing legal thrillers and suspense novels of both adult and young adult readerships.

I am encouraged by Jessica's insider knowledge of the publishing industry, her enthusiasm for new authors, and her true desire to be part of an author's career development from the very first book and beyond. The fact that Golden Wheat Literary is a small, boutique agency is, for me, a big plus, as it ensures that Jessica will be a true partner to my writing and marketing efforts.

Jessica and I will look for an appropriate home for my new novel, THE BURGAS AFFAIR, in which a Bulgarian policeman is teamed up with an Israeli woman from the Mossad as they work a case involving international terrorists and local criminals in both Bulgaria and Israel, while confronting the traumas of their pasts. The novel is currently on submission.

We are very excited about this book, and we hope to share it with the world of readers very soon. Wish us luck!

If you haven’t seen "Dig", the American mystery/action-thriller television series that premiered on USA Network in March, I highly recommend it. I have watched 9 out of the 10 episodes, and the only reason that I haven't watched the last one is that I'm so tired that I must to go to sleep now.

This show has special meaning for me, because most of the action takes place in Jerusalem, the city that is right next door to where I live. The series is very, very Israeli. It was written by Gideon Raff, the Israeli film and television director, screenwriter and writer best known for the award-winning 2010 Israeli television drama series "Prisoners of War" (which he created, wrote and directed) and its acclaimed adaptation, "Homeland" (for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards).

I have to admit - it took me a few episodes to really get into this show, and there are some parts that slow it down, but the good elements make it very, very watchable. Need I say more? Yes, I will. I present you with 10 reasons why I absolutely adore this show.

Monday, May 25, 2015

I did not come to Sofia to sightsee. Having lived and worked in the capital of Bulgaria for two years, my vacation was planned as an opportunity to see friends, old and new; to relive my Bulgarian experience; to travel to places not previously visited; and as an opportunity to get inspiration for my future writing, both fiction and non-fiction.

Whenever family or friends visited us in Bulgaria, we always took them to the center of the city to see Alexander Nevsky Cathedral - the stunning gold-domed cathedral that serves as the capital's landmark attraction. The domes are spectacular; the dark interior with icons and paintings of the saints serves candle-lighting pilgrims, as is typical of Eastern Orthodox churches.

Monday, May 18, 2015

The symptoms are getting worse. I wake up at night, my mind racing at a frantic pace, the ideas flooding me with a tidal wave of creativity. Afraid that I will forget something, I race downstairs to jot some notes so that I will remember everything in the morning. When I come to the breakfast table, I find my laptop surrounded by a sea of sticky Post-Its.

My sleepless nights might be considered a bad thing, but for me - a writer and author - they are very, very good. I write a lot in the dark hours, if you accept that coming up with ideas is a vital part of the writing process. Between these bursts of creativity, I manage to get in some actual sleep as well. As tired as I may be the next day, physically, mentally I am alert and hyper-awake.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

I am on vacation in Bulgaria this week - visiting friends, old and new; traveling to exciting places; and breathing in the Bulgarian air. All of this will be inspiration for my future writing - travel articles and works of fiction. I will be blogging again very soon!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

The novel 18% Gray is aptly titled, as this is not a story painted in black and white, but rather one in which the main color is gray. Eighteen percent gray, as professional photographers know, is the "universal starting point for all light meters… the half-way point between black and white."

Gray is used to describe everything we see. Gray are the suit coats and the donkeys; gray are the offices, towns, and tunnels. "The gray houses have gray roofs," we read. "On the gray streets we passed gray people bent over gray bicycles. It was as if I had ridden into a black-and-white dream."

Despite all of this grayness, I found this book by Bulgarian born novelist, playwright and screenwriter Zachary Karabashliev – an award-winning bestseller in Bulgaria and flawlessly translated into English by Angela Rodel – to be very colorful. As someone who lived for two years in Sofia, mention of the "smell of roasted red peppers coming from somewhere in the neighborhood" brought back many fond memories. But this is not a novel of Bulgaria. This is the tale of a Bulgarian moving across the gray landscapes of America, told in three parallel plotlines.

Friday, May 1, 2015

I have never been to Antarctica, and admittedly, visiting the southernmost continent is not high on my bucket list of travel destinations.

Antarctica is the "coldest, windiest, tallest, and most deserted continent on Earth," according to Bulgarian author Ludmila Filipova, yet it "has been alluring people for the last two centuries of human history."

What attracts visitors to this desolate place? There is something special there - "a faery of colors rules the place, while in the play of sunrays endless snowy vast and ice sculptures seem to be chiseled by the hand of an invisible fairy."

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About Me

Originally from Sioux City, Iowa, I have been living in Israel since the
age of fifteen. I served in the Israeli army, was the founding member
of a kibbutz, and currently reside on a moshav outside Jerusalem. I
lived and worked in Bulgaria during the years 2009 - 2010.
To contact me:
ellisshuman @ gmail.com